Description: The T-72 is a three-man crew main battle tank (MBT) developed for the Soviet Union's Red Army to counter the western-made M60, AMX-30, Chieftain and Leopard 1 MBTs. The T-72M variant was widely exported to the Warsaw Pact and non-Soviet countries being built under license in Poland, Czechoslovakia, India and the former Yugoslavia (M84). The T-72 is equipped with the 2A46/D-81T and/or 2A46M/D-81TM 125mm smoothbore gun fed by a turret-mounted automatic ammunition load system. T-72's 2A46M main gun is also capable of firing anti-tank missiles which gives an outstanding superiority over western tanks such as the M-60 and Leopard 1 outfitted with 105mm cannons. Approximately 25,000 T-72s were produced for the Soviet Union and export customers all over the world starting in 1971. It was used against the M1 Abrams by the Iraqis during the Gulf War in 1991 and 12 years later during operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. In both cases it performed poorly in front of highly sophisticated heavy-armor M1A1/A2 Abrams. Overall, the T-72 by the the number of units produced is the most important tank in the post-Cold War era.

The Red Army's T-72B is a highly upgraded variant of the T-72A tank introduced in 1985 to counter the latest Western tanks such as the Challenger, M1A1 Abrams and Leopard 2. It features an improved fire control system, new 2A46m stabilized gun, improved engine developing 840-hp, and improved protection using Kontakt explosive reactive armor (ERA) and thicker composite armor. The T-72BK is a command tank, T-72BA, T-72B1, T-72B1V, T-72BV feature improved armor and the T-72BM is fitted with Kontakt-5 improved ERA for better protection. The T-72Bs can fire the AT-11/Refleks anti-tank guided missile and can be fitted with Arena-E active protection system against anti-tank weapons. In the 2010s the majority of T-72 tanks in service with the Russian Army belong to the T-72B series with the T-72BM being the most popular model and has been deployed in large numbers. These tanks along with the T-80s are planned for replacement by the new Armata tank in the 2017-2025 timeframe.